Bleach: Soul Infection
by Haseo8
Summary: A string of coma victims sweeps Karakura Town. Are Hollows involved? Or is it something else? Rumors say an online game is the cause. Can Kuchiki Rukia uncover the truth? Name is temporary. Rated T to be safe.


A/N: Well, this is my first fic in a while. Concerning my other story, I may or may not finish that. If anyone wants me to, I will. I may edit the first two chapters though. Anyway, I had an idea for this story for a while and it's been nagging at me. I don't have much to say at the moment, but I will say that this is a crossover with .Hack.

Wait, don't click away. You do not need to know .Hack to understand this. I will go into as much detail about .Hack as possible. I am far more knowledgeable about .Hack than I am with Mega Man Zero, so this also has a higher chance of being completed. Especially since I'm a huge fan. I made this 'cus I noticed there were no REAL crossovers with these two, so I'm trying my hand at combing one of my favorite anime/manga series, with one of my favorite video game series.

This will also mainly be from Rukia's point of view. It won't be first-person, it will just be mainly focused on Rukia and her thoughts. Well, I hope you enjoy, I'm still a bit of an amateur writer but I'm trying to get better. All criticisms are welcome.

Oh, I'd also like to thank HibiscusAngel15 for Beta Reading this. It really helped.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Bleach or .Hack. If I did, I'd make a game out of this.

* * *

_Chapter One: _

_Comas?_

"Hey, did you hear?"

"Hear what?"

"About those coma victims."

"Oh, that. Yeah, it was on the news all morning."

"Freaky, isn't it?"

Today was a typical day for Kuchiki Rukia. She woke up, dispatched some Hollows, and went to school. Well, it would've been typical aside from the constant murmurs of coma victims.

Normally, she watched the human news to see if there was anything strange going on, mainly pertaining to Hollows or the like. She had gotten an order from the Soul Society to dispatch some Hollows early in the morning. After that, she had to go straight to school, so she didn't have time to check the news. So, until she had arrived at school, she was unaware of this rather troubling topic.

"I heard when they were found, they were sitting in front of their computers. I also heard some rumors that it was caused by an online game they were playing…" one of the voices, a boy, whispered.

"What? D-Don't be ridiculous! Something like that could never happen!" another voice, a girl, muttered, denying the claim.

_It's probably a few Hollows…_Rukia thought to herself. She'd have to take care of them later. However, if it was Hollows, she figured she should have gotten an order to eliminate them, or at least, sensed their reiatsu. She was planning to talk about it with her partner and friend, but he was late.

"Argh! Where is he?" she grumbled softly as she leaned back in her chair.

"Where's who?" a voice suddenly asked from beside her, startling the Kuchiki. The suddenness of it all almost made her fall off her chair. She glared angrily up at the speaker.

"Ichigo! You're late!" she lashed out. Kurosaki Ichigo, her partner, friend, and also Substitute Shinigami, shrugged indifferently. They had been partners ever since she saved him and his family from a Hollow, the event that resulted in him becoming a Shinigami and thus changing his world.

"I had something I needed to do," he said as he placed his bag on his desk and took his seat.

"And that would be?" she asked, still slightly irritated at him for startling her.

"I'll tell you later. Did you want to talk to me or something?"

"Yeah, it's concerning these coma victims. You've heard, right?" she whispered to him so no one else would hear.

"Of course, no one will shut up about it. You think it might be a Hollow?" he wondered in a low tone, a serious expression crossing his face.

Rukia nodded and muttered, "I think so. We should check it out later."

A Hollow that caused comas and be completely undetected was very unusual. She had never heard of any such Hollows existing. Something was going on, and she was determined to figure out just what it was.

* * *

Later that night, the both of them split up and searched the entire city yet came up with nothing. No traces of any Hollows. They even checked out the homes of the victims. Nothing there either.

_This is odd…_Rukia thought. This was very strange indeed. No signs of a Hollow attack in any of the victims' homes. Not to mention that they still had their souls. If it truly was a Hollow, it would have eaten their souls, not render them unconscious. Could those rumors she heard about that online game be true? No, nonsense! Something like that couldn't possibly happen…Could it?

Later, they met on top of the Kurosaki Clinic roof. "Anything?" she asked.

"No, nothing. No traces _at all…_" he reported, somewhat annoyed.

"Well, I sent my taichou a Hell Butterfly explaining the whole situation. He should report this to the rest of the taichous as well. We should probably wait for his response." As soon as Rukia finished speaking, a black butterfly fluttered toward them.

"Well, speak of the devil…" Ichigo chuckled as it glided toward her.

"Hm, I see. Huh? Now?" the Kuchiki muttered as she listened intently to the message the butterfly relayed. After she was finished, it flew away.

"So, what's the matter? Do they know what's up?" he inquired.

"They said that this was very odd. Unfortunately, they don't have any information on this. They also told me to cease all Shinigami activity until we know more. Ukitake-taichou also ordered me to return to Soul Society," she answered.

"Why?" Ichigo asked, slightly puzzled.

"He needs to speak with me face-to-face apparently…" She was equally perplexed. It wasn't often she was called back by her taichou. _He probably just wants more details…_she thought, hoping it wasn't anything serious.

"That's weird. Well, what am I gonna do?" he wondered aloud.

The short Shinigami pondered the question before answering, "I guess you can just go home until I come back. I don't think it'll take me long."

He frowned but said, "Fine. I'll be waiting for you then." He then flash-stepped into his house.

"I guess I should get going too…" the Shinigami murmured to no one in particular and she too disappeared.

* * *

Rukia slowly opened the doors to her taichou's room and she walked inside. Ukitake-taichou was sitting at his desk doing paperwork. He looked up when he heard her come in.

"Ah, Rukia-san," he greeted politely and gave her a warm smile.

She strolled up to his desk, knelt down, and bowed her head. "Sorry I'm late, taichou," she apologized.

"It's quite alright. Please, stand! There's no need for formalities now. I simply wish to speak to you. I thought it would be better to ask you in person," Ukitake said as he got up from his chair and circled around his desk to stand in front of her. "First of all, concerning the incident you mentioned, there are people mysteriously going into comas, and you believe a Hollow might have something to do with this? Is this correct?"

"Yes, sir. Ichigo and I searched all over, but we found no traces of any Hollows in the area. Of course, we checked the victims' homes where they fell into a coma, but there were no signs of Hollow activity. I couldn't sense anything and when we checked the victims themselves, they still had their souls."

"This is definitely troubling. If that's the case, then this might not be a Hollow. Hm..." He seemed lost in thought. He bowed his head slightly and put a hand to his chin.

Several seconds passed before he spoke again. "I will send someone to perform a more thorough investigation. I will consult Squad Two on this. Their taichou is sure to help, though I'll have to ask nicely...Until we find out more, don't speak of this to anyone except for the Substitute Shinigami. In the meanwhile..." He lifted his head. "Rukia-san, you've been pushing yourself. I think you should take a break."

"Huh? But taichou!" she objected.

"Don't worry. We'll get to the bottom of this. It's no use getting so stressed. Though if you come across anything strange, don't act, contact me first. Understood?" the white-haired taichou questioned in a commanding tone.

"...Understood..." the Kuchiki mumbled softly as she bowed her head to him.

"Good," he said, his smile returning to his face. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "This will be good for you. You've been working hard lately, so just leave it to us," Ukitake tried to reassure her.

"Okay, thanks…" She smiled a little but still felt as if she should do something to help the investigation.

"You're dismissed."

* * *

Rukia was lying on her bed in the Kurosaki's new guest room, lost in thought. She had already spoken to Ichigo about what her taicho had told her.

"_So basically we just do nothing?" Ichigo had asked, baffled. He was leaning against his doorpost, arms crossed and an eyebrow raised in disbelief. Rukia was sitting on his bed, swinging her legs absently._

"_According to Ukitake-taicho, we just leave it to the Soul Society for the time being. He said I should take a break," she reported to him._

"_I can't stand doing nothing while people are going into comas, but...I guess there isn't anything we _can _do right now. Well..." Ichigo paused to yawn. "I'm tired. I'm going to bed…"_

_Rukia stretched her arms. "Yeah, we might as well rest. We can wait for more news while we're at it."_

"_Yeah. Well, good night," the Substitute Shinigami said as he walked over to his bed._

"_Good night,_" _Rukia repeated and got up to leave._

_I can't sleep…_she thought with a frown. Too much stuff was going through her mind. These incidents were far too unusual. She still wasn't sure if her taicho made the right decision by giving her some downtime. She shook her head, clearing her head. _No, forget about that. I trust Ukitake-taicho. He knows what he's doing…_

She flopped over and eyed the laptop on her desk. _Hm, I haven't actually used it that much with all that's happened today…_She thought back to when Ichigo had first given it to her, right after school ended.

"_Here," he said, handing her what looked like a hard metal folder._

"_What is this?" she asked, looking it over curiously. _

"_It's a laptop. It's basically a portable computer," he explained, shoving his hands in his pockets._

_She slowly opened it up. "Oh. Wait, why are you giving me this?" Rukia glanced up at him._

_He scratched the top of his head in embarrassment. "I just thought you'd might like a computer of your own. That way you won't have to keep using mine…Honestly, sometimes I wonder why I even introduced the internet to you…"_

"_Well, gee, thanks for the nice gesture," she replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes at his attitude. Then she smiled and added, "But really, thank you."_

"_Oh yeah, I also got you these," Ichigo said, pulling out a large headset and a controller from the bag he was carrying. "This is an FMD, a Face-Mounted Display. I heard it was popular with a certain online game. This was the last one they had. I think it was called The World. Unfortunately, they were sold out. You can probably find it if you look really hard. I also got a controller for playing computer games. I got you these 'cause I know how much you like video games…" he explained and then handed them to her._

"_Ichigo..." she started, at a loss for words. This was unusually kind of him. This had probably cost him a lot of money._

"_Well, I gotta get going. I promised Chad I'd meet up with him. We'll talk about that thing later tonight, okay?" he suggested before walking away._

She stared at the stuff in her hands and whispered to herself, "_Hm…The World, huh? I've definitely heard of that game before. I'll have to try looking into it later."_

* * *

Rukia got up from her bed, sat down at her desk, opened her new laptop and powered it on. She had already used it somewhat, so the settings had already been configured. She quickly went to check her e-mail. The screen flashed the "You got mail" alert. She opened up her inbox curiously.

_From: Asano Keigo_

_Subject: Hey, Rukia-chan!_

_Oh no..._she thought, suppressing a groan. Keigo's e-mails were usually filled with nonsense. Rukia wondered why she hadn't set it so that his emails would automatically go to her junk folder. _Well, let's see what he wants this time…_Rukia sighed as she opened the e-mail.

_Hey, Rukia-chan! You haven't been replying to any of my e-mails! What's up with that? Well, maybe you didn't get them, but if you do read this, I need to tell you about something really cool! Have you heard of the MMO called The World? What am I saying, of course you have! Who hasn't? You really need to check it out! It's awesome! If you do, look me up! My name on there is Supreme King of Awesome! Well, it would have been, but it didn't fit in the name box, so I just changed it to King. See you there!_

"The World again? Ichigo told me it was all sold out. I'll check around town tomorrow after school. I'm going to have a lot of free time anyway…" With that said, she closed out of the browser, shut down her laptop, and climbed back into bed to go to sleep.

* * *

The next day after school, Rukia looked everywhere, but couldn't find any stores that sold it. "Hm, it really is tough to find. There has to be at least one store that sells it!"

As she continued walking, she wound up near Urahara Kisuke's shop: _**Urahara Shōten**_. "Hm, I wonder if Urahara will be able to help me," she wondered aloud and strolled across the lot to his shop.

Rukia slid the door open and a large man swept the floor to greet the new customer. He stopped, seeming to see who just entered. "Kuchiki-san," he greeted in a deep, gruff voice.

"Tessai-san, is Urahara in?" she asked.

"I'm here!" called a laid-back voice as a tall man wearing a white-and-green striped bucket-shaped hat. "It's good to see you, Kuchiki-san. What can I help you with?"

"Well, I was just wondering if you knew anything about an online game called The World. Every store seems to be sold out," she asked.

"Oh yeah. I know it. You can't walk anywhere or even stay home without hearing about it. It's your lucky day! We actually happen to have a copy!" the shopkeeper shouted with a grin.

Rukia was surprised. "Really? I wasn't expecting you to have one…"

He flicked open his fan and announced, "Of course we do! And, as a special deal for you, it's absolutely free!"

"That's unusually kind of you…What's wrong with it?" she asked, looking at him suspiciously.

Urahara wore an appalled expression. "Nothing! Nothing at all! Why would you say that?"

The petite Shinigami frowned and answered, "Because with you, there's always something more."

He shook his head and continued to grin at her good-naturedly. "Nothing this time. Ururu! Go grab it from the back room."

After a few minutes, a young girl with pigtails walked in with a small box in her hands and offered it to Rukia. "Well, hope you enjoy!" he said with the same creepy smile on his face.

"Uh, thanks..." she mumbled, still suspicious of the shopkeeper's motives. She then left the shop.

* * *

Urahara returned to his room, hands inside his huge sleeves. "Are you sure it was alright to let her have it?" inquired a woman leaning against a nearby doorway. He came to a halt.

He turned to her with a playful half-smile. "Don't worry, Yoruichi-san. I have faith that she'll be able to uncover the truth soon."

She crossed her arms with a grimace. "I hope you're right…"

* * *

A/N:Thanks for reading this. I also must thank HibiscusAngel15 again for helping me with this. Thanks a lot! Oh yeah, I could also use advice for writing in Rukia's point of view. Since she's the protagonist here I want to try to delve more into her thoughts and whatnot.

Oh yeah, I would also like a few ideas. Mainly with Rukia's character for The World. Such as her character name and class. I will put brief explanations of each class. They will be in my profile, along with a poll which you can vote for what class. You tells me what you choose or other such stuff either through PM or review.

Oh yeah, about her character name. I have trouble with names. I would appreciate if anyone could come up with some good names. I'm gonna have to keep calling her it, so I want it to sound and if I come up with a name, the name I come up with will probably end up annoying me. Remember, just PM or put it in a review. I greatly appreciate it if you help.


End file.
